The City of Cape Town has awarded a controversial R1-billion tender to sell and transform stretches of its prime land between Clifton and Camps Bay – a move which residents feel will push up costs and start squeezing out those who can no longer afford to live there.
The Clifton tender, which involves selling, as well as leasing out city-owned land, has been the centre of controversy for years.
This week the city said bidders were told about the outcome of the bidding process last Thursday. The city said the approximately R1-billion tender was awarded to K2015298271 South Africa.
News24 understands the total offer was R1,014, 244, 500. Unsuccessful bidders now have 21 days to appeal this outcome. Planning and public participation processes will take place.
Len Swimmer, deputy chairperson of the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, which represents more than 360 organisations around the city and less affluent areas including Manenberg, said residents would lose out.
“They’re going to build a massive parking lot [as part of the development], so people will have to then pay and won’t be able to get in,” he said. “So it’s going to be an exclusive area for the wealthy.”
But Brett Herron, mayor committee member for transport and urban development, said: “The city will allocate at least 10% of the financial offer to affordable and inclusionary housing projects on well-located land in the inner-city,” he said.
Herron said the proposed development, he said, would improve public access to the beach and recreational facilities, enhance tourism potential and “unlock investment to drive job creation”.
Herron said “a thorough and rigorous supply chain management process was followed” in awarding the tender.
Herron said city-owned land would be made available to the successful bidder, who would have to develop:
– A boutique hotel, or serviced apartment site, of 3 500 m2.
– A restaurant and retail component of 5 000 m2.
– Two pockets of residential developments consisting of 52 residential stands
– A mixed-use area, consisting of offices, studios and apartments, of 2 250 m2.
– An underground parking facility of about 725 parking bays.
Herron said the successful bidder would also have to upgrade surrounding public infrastructure.
This included the Maiden’s Cove picnic area which was to be revamped into an area similar to that of the Green Point Urban Park, improving the safety of pedestrians and cyclists by upgrading a key road in the area, as well as rehabilitating the Clifton Lifesaving Club buildings.
Aside from this, Herron said, the successful bidder would have to provide new public infrastructure: a boardwalk in the Bantry Bay area to provide the public with access to part of the shoreline.
“The cost of the investment in the upgrading of existing public infrastructure and the construction of new public infrastructure will be funded by the city,” Herron said.
